Categories

Suboxone maker Reckitt Benckiser to pay $1.4 billion in largest opioid settlement in US history

Suboxone maker Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB Group) will pay the U.S. government a record $1.4 billion to end criminal and civil probes into the marketing of its addiction treatment medication, making it the largest settlement related to the opioid crisis in U.S. history, authorities said on Thursday.

The settlement will cover multiple investigations into the company’s subsidiary, Indivior (formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc.), and its alleged illegal marketing of its drug, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

It is important that the companies that have racked in billions of dollars by misrepresenting, illegally marketing and denying the truth about the dangers of opioids be held accountable for the deaths of countless of people, and the destruction of the lives of countless more. Our government must continue to step in and take action, which is challenging, since the lobbying that Big Pharma does in Washington is substantial.

In the end, it is up to us, the citizens, to raise our voices and demand justice for the loved ones we have lost to addiction and death, and the countless others that have yet to succumb to this tragedy. Yet, seeing a big company made responsible for their sins is definitely a good starting point.